Summer seems to allow us at times to interrupt our routines and to sit back and reflect. You may think that this is stereotypical, and that our summers have long become part of the yearlong rat race. Nevertheless, I have recently enjoyed several conversations and not just one, where people expressed surprise by the fact that their calling here at church has developed in such unexpected ways.
I want to give you an illustration, but I will use myself as an example so as to not break trust. However, the underlying principle is the same for many of us. In fact, I suspect that it shapes much of our life experience far beyond the walls of the church.
As you probably know, I like music, the history of ideas, adult education, preaching, and visiting with people. I used to not like numbers, brick and mortar, and social networking. Ah! Social networking was the worst! I would always prefer a library or archive room over against a ballroom. Yet… and you know the rest of the story.
As I indicated, several of us share similar experiences. We like certain things, but life employs us differently. And this is not limited to the realm of the church. Few of us are able to stay faithful to their college majors through the rest of life. Is this not so?
And so I am wondering what it means. As we grow older, we ask ourselves perhaps a bit more often to what degree our life has been successful. But what is success? Prior to understanding this as a spiritual question, we might simply identify success with reaching a pre-set goal. A goal could be to successfully build a career in a certain field of interest. The degree by which we deviate from this goal would then be a measure for failure and success.
This is pre-spiritual, I said. For I am not sure Christians can ultimately think that way. There is always this one word of our Lord in the way, and no earthly power can remove it: “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” (Mark 14:36) It summarizes our religious experience that God may have different plans, that his thoughts are not our thoughts.
Recently, my father-in-law sent me a collection of religious sayings. One of these turned out to be a modern footnote to the quote from the Gospel of Mark: “God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called.” At first, this may just be a surprising swap of terms. But wait a moment, perhaps there is more! Have you ever thought that ending up in a life-place other than the intended may contribute to your inner growth?
By contrast, if we only follow the things we planned our inner growth may never reach its full bloom. However, I want to be careful here. When Jesus said, “not what I want, but what you want,” he was not talking about a plan for his future life, but his death on the cross. Our comparison must stop at this point, where we remain behind, allowed to plan our lives, when he was not.
I greet you with these thoughts and wish you all a blessed a meaningful summer.
Dear Friends,
This morning was a different morning than usual. Children’s voices echoed throughout the education building of FRC. Pine Grove Nursery School hosted a performance of Peacemaker, a short play produced by actors from the George Street Playhouse. It was humorous. Moreover, the children’s enthusiasm was noticeable. And, we staff persons stood in the back with smiles on our faces.
What a joy to have so many children here, their parents and caretakers! So many people using our large buildings on a Monday morning; one can’t call this church a “stained glass aquarium” as the cartoon denotes. We’ve broken the bowl!
And that causes us to pause and say maybe “Ooops!” or “Yeah” In any case, it is a bit scary!
I think all of those feelings come along with that acknowledgment. We have become a different church: one which supports a diverse set of groups coming and going in our buildings. Also, our ministries are changing and refocusing as well, because our outreach and openness to the community keeps shaping our vision of what we want to offer, and how we wish to express that offering.
To give you just another example: at the May consistory meeting, the request for usage by a local group known as Collaborative Arts (a non-for-profit organization) was accepted. They will use our sanctuary for several weeks in August to perform Romeo and Juliet. It reminded me so much of the times when our congregation put on Godspell, which was many years ago. This production, though, will be somewhat intriguing because the arts group plans to spice up the production in a multicultural way: Romeo’s family will be Afro-Caribbean, and Juliet’s will be Latino. Certainly it will be a new way to look at this classic play!
This re-use of the sanctuary and the close bond that the Building Usage Ad-hoc Committee has developed with some of our groups, which use our buildings, is rather remarkable. We don’t see folks as just “renters” but rather as “partners”. Their usage helps us gain new contacts within the fabric of the community, and our facilities provide an affordable venue for many. We all win through the usage and the developing relationships. Who knows where this “relationship” may creatively grow? What opportunities may develop out of working together? Interfacing is a new way to provide new ministries to our community, and it seems that the more we break open the “stained glass aquarium” the greater the possibilities will become.
Did you ever think that our buildings would be a way to evangelize and do outreach? Quite a turn around indeed!
Fondly,
Pastor Susan
Many members of our volunteer team have loved big toys from childhood on. It came as no surprise, then, when on Good Friday this past month several of us came out to watch the last of our dumpsters being picked up. Was it truly the last? For ten years now, we had dumpsters in our grave yard regularly. There may be more to come, especially when the church roof is being replaced and the steeple renovated. However, these dumpsters will hopefully be filled by professionals and not by volunteers. In this sense, our Good Friday dumpster may indeed have been the last of its kind.
As appealing as dumpster and truck technology may be to several of us, including myself, dumpsters are at the same time powerful symbols of how we should deal or not deal with our heritage and tradition. There is a fine line to be observed. Oftentimes, it is all too easy to throw just about everything into the dumpster and to start over with something new.
Even here at First Reformed Church, we sometimes succumb to this temptation. But then there are moments where we become aware of this. That’s when our sense of stewardship comes to bear, and we realize our obligation to preserve a tradition that is greater than our momentary whims.
This does not make us preservationists at all cost. On the contrary, we are quite aware that preservation as an end in itself will mean the end to all living tradition. In order to survive, tradition needs change. Here at the church, we have found a good middle way for this. We have subscribed to preserving our outside by the strict standards of state sponsored historic preservation. Yet, we found ways that led Pine Grove Nursery establish a playground in front of the church. At the same time, we are remodeling our interior to fit a new time. The upstairs of the Church House is currently adjusted so that it can accommodate the nursery school.
We have finished the updating the downstairs, especially the new bathrooms. Now, we are looking forward to the emergence of plans regarding the remodeling of our sanctuary. The old and the new — in this balance, our church is thriving.
Dear Friends,
Our Preservation Project Architect, Margaret Westfield, shared this insightful Chinese proverb with us:
An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it; while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. “I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.” The old woman smiled, “Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers which then decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.”
The lesson to this story: ‘Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it’s the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.’
At times, Hartmut and I see these church buildings like the cracked pot, especially when yet another squirrel finds its way into our office through the broken soffits. (I guess that’s part of the reason Margaret Westfield sent us this story.) However, there are so many advantages to these dear old buildings. And it’s more than their charm of the history that they breathe. More than anything, it is always amazing how they can seem to be falling apart, but they are able to be fixed, adapted, renovated, and to house so many different groups. Strangely, in the midst of the terrible storm at the beginning of March, most of New Brunswick lost power. There were manhole fires, and emergency repair vehicles worked on George Street for days. Yet, our church had power. In fact, even the NJ Gay Men’s Chorus was able to hold their Cabaret show. It was as if we were a ship in the midst of rocky sea. The ship did not sink. [ more » ]
Churches change when they are no longer content with just the fellowship among their members and some token outreach in addition to that. A church that really wants to claim a place on the map needs to be well connected with its surrounding community.
These insights may be one of the reasons, why the phrase ‘commuter church‘ has such bad taste. It seems to refer to congregations who evade the test of life by meeting in communities to which they have no connection. First Reformed Church was a commuter church from the 18th century on. Large parts of its congregation came to church by horse and buggy, because they came from the surrounding farms. Today, we have only a handful of members residing in the city of New Brunswick.
However, is this reason enough to scoff at the word ‘commuter church’? On Jan 30th, Susan, Jim Hance and I attended the stated winter meeting of our Classis. Much of the morning was spent with a workshop on new church starts. We had denominational staff presenting– a good use of Classis dues, if you ask me.
What excited me most that morning was the offer of new language (and I am always interested in language, as you know). One of the two presenters talked repeatedly about the ‘magnetic church’ as a new term for ‘commuter church’.
Oh, if we could adopt these terms here at First Reformed Church!
It would do two things for us. First, we would rid ourselves of the negative connotations of the term ‘commuter church‘. Second, we would turn around the perspective on ourselves. Rather than viewing ourselves as a deficient commuter church, we could actually celebrate the fact that our church provides so much meaning that it draws, Sunday after Sunday and week after week, so many of us from the surrounding areas. In many ways, we have become a magnetic church, and it’s time to claim this part of our identity as well.
Pastor Hartmut
When thinking of the calendar year of the church, many of us anticipate spending much of 2010 with brick and mortar. We allocated six weeks between the end of February and the beginning of April to the reconstruction of the Women’s Bathroom. Later, in May, construction of Phase 1 of our Preservation project will begin: the steeple, the church roof, the church attic, and the soffit of the education building.
With so much physical work, it is necessary that we take care of our spiritual balance. The time of Lent offers itself for this, as it provides us with some great opportunity to find center in our worship life. As every year, we will begin Lent on Ash Wednesday, Feb 17th, at 7:30 p.m. with a collegiate worship service here at First Reformed Church. Folks from the Highland Park Reformed Church, Second Reformed Church, and the Suydam Street Reformed Church will join us for the occasion. Our organist and choir director, Ben Berman, has found great music for the combined choir.
Following the Ash Wednesday service, we will offer a special confessional liturgy during the beginning part of our Lenten Sunday worship services. This liturgy centers on the baptismal font and is based on words from Psalm 51. Each time, we will pour water into the font, reminding ourselves of the beginning of our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In doing so, we will adapt a format that comes to us from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
In addition to this special worship liturgy, we offer a Lenten Adult Education Class. It has the title, Living Your Faith in a Messed-up World, and comes to us from our sister denomination, the Christian Reformed Church. Each session will focus on a short film or interview that provides an exemplary insight into the relevance of the Reformed faith today. The sessions will be held on Friday nights at 8:00 p.m., beginning on Mar 19th. We are trying to hold these sessions in various homes rather than at church. If you would like to host a session, please call our church office (732-545-1005).
A Presbyterian Lenten liturgy and a Christian-Reformed adult education class — this also reflects where we are as the people of First Reformed Church: firmly embedded in our Reformed tradition and, yet, always eager to broaden our horizon and outlook.
May this year’s Lenten journey be meaningful to you!
Pastor Hartmut
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Dear Friends,
Looking at the lectionary passages set for Jan 1st, I was confronted with the Matthew 25:40 text which states: ” I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these you did it to me.”
The folks listening to Jesus at that moment were wondering what he was referring to. “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?” When? Whenever, is Jesus’ response. What better”call to action” for a new year! What is more arousing than to hear that every time we respond to those in need that we are responding to our Lord Jesus.
Let’s look at our record. Truly, we do respond to such needs by participating in the Men’s Overflow Shelter (this month — Jan 10 – 16) by offering our kitchen and hall for the Family Feeding Program — House of Manna, by supporting the Hall Education Fund — which provides scholarships to New Brunswick needy children going onto higher education, by providing gifts for kids in needy families, by offering space to many groups: the Hyacinth Foundation, the Prom Dress Exchange group, amongst others. And so forth. Isn’t it wonderful that this list has grown over the years? Our commitment to “the least of these” has increased!
So, with a new year, it is time to think about new means of helping the “least of these” That being said, a team of folks has been working for some time discussing some strategic planning for our facilities. Stef Beemsterboer cleverly coined the name for this team: Building Vision Group. Its task has been exactly that: building a vision for our buildings, in particular, for the building of our sanctuary. For one thing, it has been determined from the usage of our BTUs that the sanctuary uses about two to three times the amount of energy (heating & electric) than our education building. We were shocked with this information! Simply because the sanctuary is used only two evenings per week and all day Sunday, while the education building is used almost all week for many hours per day. We realized, with this information, that we are not utilizing the space that the sanctuary provides to the best capacity.
Can we do something better? That’s our quest, if you will. So the group has met with various architects and planners trying to determine how we could possibly address this under usage, or how to better use that space in a greater capacity. The Building Vision Group brought before the consistory, in December, a few ideas, but in order to make plans, it is clear that a feasibility study of the sanctuary space must be completed by an architect. Thus, we are in the process of employing one, who will then provide us with such a study.
Along these same lines, the Building Vision Group has been looking into developing a 501(c)3, which is a nonprofit organization — something we will have to apply for through the federal government. At this point, we have written a Vision Statement in which the paragraph reads: “The Town Clock Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization, sees its historic buildings as a welcoming home, infused with early nineteenth century charm, offering the people of New Brunswick many types of community spaces and shelter opportunities.” As you see, we are clearly putting the least of these before us and considering how we might better serve our Lord. And what better way than through these large buildings that we have which can offer shelter, education, a warm meal, spiritual nurture and so much more.
Fondly,
Pastor Susan
